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Starting his career in advertising, British filmmaker Ridley Scott soon switched from directing adverts to directing movies, making his debut with The Duellists in 1977.
Since then he has become one of the highest-grossing directors in history, thanks to hits like Blade Runner, Alien and Gladiator.
He’s won a host of accolades along the way, including the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a knighthood.
It may come as a surprise to many that he’s never won an Oscar, but he’s being tipped to fill that empty spot in his trophy cabinet with this year’s blockbuster Gladiator II.
That film is being released in Scottish cinemas this Friday, November 15, and is expected to be a huge box office hit.
To celebrate we’re taking a look back at his ten best films - as ranked by review aggreggator Rotten Tomatoes.
1. Alien
Scott's 1979 masterpiece Alien is pretty much the perfect horror/scifi. It follows a spaceship crew who investigate a derelict spaceship only to find a deadly extraterrestrial creature - led by Sigourney Weaver's iconic character Ellen Ripley. It's his most critically-acclaimed film according to Rotten Tomatoes, with a rating of 93 per cent. | Contributed
2. The Martian
You have to fast-forward 36 years from Alien for Scott's second biggest hit with critics - and it's another space saga. The Martian sees Matt Damon star as an astronaut struggling to survive on Mars after being left behind and NASA's efforts to return him to Earth. It has a fresh rating of 91 per cent. | Contributed
3. Blade Runner
It's perhaps a surprise that the original Blade Runner only merits a rating of 89 per cent. The film, starring Harrison Ford Rutger Hauer and Sean Young, is set in a dystopian Los Angeles where a weary cop tries to track down a group of rogue replicants - synthetic AI-powered androids that look just like humans. | Corbis via Getty Images
4. Thelma & Louise
Ridely Scott doesn't just make great sci-fi films - Thelma & Louise is a classic crime thriller that sees the titular duo go on the run after a road trip goes awry. Starring Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis, the film has a positive rating of 86 per cent. | Contributed